2528 



that, where he found 

 the plant, the ground 

 was covered with snow 

 and ice ; so that there 

 can be no doubt of its 

 being hardy in the cli- 

 mate of London. It is 

 of such remarkably slow 

 growth in its native ha- 

 bitats, that the inhabi- 

 tants say it flowers only 

 once in 400 years. Fig. 

 2402., reduced from Ba- 

 ron Karwinski's plate to 

 a scale 1 in. to 12 ft., 

 shows the general ap- 

 pearance of the full- 

 grown plant, with its 

 noble spike of flowers. 

 Fig. 2401. shows the 

 flowers of the natural 

 size. Only seven plants 

 were introduced, one of 

 which was purchased by 

 the Duke of Devonshire, 

 and the rest sold to 

 Messrs. Loddiges. Price 

 five guineas each. 



F. gigantea Vent., 

 Bot. Mag., t. 2250., is 

 an agave-like plant, 

 with leaves 7 ft. long, 

 and a flower-stem 30 ft. 

 high ; a native of South 

 America : introduced in 

 1C90. It flowered in 

 1821, at the Earl of 

 Powis's seat at Wallcot, 

 Shropshire. 



Litt(E^a gemmiflora 

 Brig. ; AgaVe gemmi- 

 fldra Ker; Bonapartea 

 ^'uncea Haw., Hort. 

 Journ. Roy. Inst., iii. 

 t. 1.; and our/g. 2403.; 

 is a native of Peru, in- 

 troduced in 1800; and, 

 though commonly kept 

 in the green-house, it is 

 probably as hardy as 

 some kinds of Yucca. 

 The plant of which our 

 figure is a portrait, with 

 a single flower of the 

 natural size, flowered in 

 the conservatory of 

 Knight's Exotic Nur- 

 sery, King's Road, in 

 1826. The flower-stem 

 first appeared about the 



AHBORETUM 



PA R'i' 111. 



2402 



